Council of Europe committee gives AI a legal framework
Published: Friday, Mar 15th 2024, 11:30
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The Council of Europe's AI Committee concluded a convention on artificial intelligence (AI) in Strasbourg (France) on Thursday. The Federal Council is following this development in order to draft a possible AI law.
This convention, the first of its kind, will guarantee that artificial intelligence respects the legal norms of the Council of Europe with regard to human rights, democracy and the rule of law, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, was quoted as saying in a press release on Friday. The text remains unpublished at present.
The convention was drawn up by the 46 member states of the Council, other observer states, international organizations such as the EU, the UN and the OSCE, companies, civil society and academia, according to the Council of Europe's website. The committee was chaired by the Deputy Director of the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (Bakom), Thomas Schneider.
Swiss AI law not before 2025
The text must now be formally adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. This will take place in the coming weeks, according to the press release. States could then ratify the convention and implement it in national legislation.
In November 2023, the Federal Council commissioned the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) to carry out an analysis for this purpose, Bakom announced at the time. Among other things, this should take into account the regulation of the Council of Europe and the European Union. The latter adopted an AI law on Wednesday.
The Swiss analysis should be available by the end of 2024, it was announced in November. Based on this, the Federal Council planned to issue a concrete mandate for an AI regulation bill in 2025.
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